Optoelectronic apparatus

ABSTRACT

An optoelectronic apparatus includes an optical device with an optical structure including a plurality of optical elements, and a radiation-emitting or radiation-receiving semiconductor chip with a contact structure which includes a plurality of contact elements that make electrical contact with the semiconductor chip and are spaced apart vertically from the optical structure, wherein the contact elements are arranged in interspaces between the optical elements upon a projection of the contact structure into the plane of the optical structure.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a §371 of International Application No. PCT/DE2009/000882, withan international filing date of Jun. 25, 2009 (WO 2010/000232 A1,published Jan. 7, 2010), which is based on German Patent Application No.10 2008 030 819.6, filed Jun. 30, 2008, the subject matter of which isincorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

An optoelectronic apparatus is provided which is suitable, inparticular, for detector systems, energy-generating systems such as, forinstance, solar cells or projectors, for example, beamers.

BACKGROUND

DE 10 2005 033 005 A1 describes an optoelectronic chip having an activezone subdivided into a plurality of radiation-emitting regions, and aplurality of convexly curved partial regions having a larger lateralextent than the radiation-emitting regions. What is intended to beachieved with this ratio between the radiation-emitting regions and theconvexly curved partial regions is that the radiation emitted by theregions impinges on the partial regions at an angle which is less thanthe critical angle of total reflection, such that the radiationcoupling-out efficiency can be increased.

It could therefore be helpful to provide a low-loss optoelectronicapparatus.

SUMMARY

We provide an optoelectronic apparatus including an optical device withan optical structure including a plurality of optical elements, and aradiation-emitting or radiation-receiving semiconductor chip with acontact structure which includes a plurality of contact elements thatmake electrical contact with the semiconductor chip and are spaced apartvertically from the optical structure, wherein the contact elements arearranged in interspaces between the optical elements upon a projectionof the contact structure into the plane of the optical structure.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of an optoelectronicapparatus for illustrating the effect of the optical device.

FIG. 2 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the optoelectronicapparatus with semiconductor chip, optical structure and concentrator.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of the semiconductor chipand the optical structure for illustrating the beam path between opticalstructure and semiconductor chip.

FIG. 4 shows a scatter diagram of an intensity distribution on theradiation passage area of the semiconductor chip.

FIG. 5 shows a graph representing the confined energy in an illuminatedregion of the semiconductor chip.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic plan view of a contract structure.

FIG. 7 shows a schematic cross-sectional view of a radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving semiconductor chip.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In accordance with one preferred example, our optoelectronic apparatuscomprises an optical device with an optical structure comprising aplurality of optical elements, and also a radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving semiconductor chip with a contact structure, whichcomprises a plurality of contact elements that make electrical contactwith the semiconductor chip and is spaced apart vertically from theoptical structure, wherein the contact elements are arranged ininterspaces between the optical elements upon a projection of thecontact structure into the plane of the optical structure.

The vertical spacing-apart enables the desired optical effect to beachieved, namely a concentration of the radiation in regions of aradiation entrance area of the radiation-receiving semiconductor chipseparated from one another by the contact structure, or a collimation ofthe radiation emitted by the regions by the optical structure.

The contact structure may be applied on a radiation passage area of thesemiconductor chip, the radiation passage area facing the opticaldevice. It holds true for the radiation-emitting semiconductor chip thatthe radiation passage area corresponds to the radiation exit area, whilein the case of the radiation-receiving semiconductor chip the radiationpassage area constitutes the radiation entrance area.

Preferably, the contact structure only covers partial regions of theradiation passage area of the semiconductor chip, that is to say thatthe contact structure does not cover the radiation passage area over thewhole area. Radiation losses caused by absorption of radiation at thecontact structure are thus reduced in the contact structure that isperforated in this case.

Furthermore, the optical structure is preferably arranged on a radiationpassage area of the optical device, the radiation passage area facingthe contact structure. It holds true for the radiation-emittingsemiconductor chip that the radiation passage area of the optical devicecorresponds to the radiation entrance area of the optical device, whilein the case of the radiation-receiving semiconductor chip the radiationpassage area constitutes the radiation exit area of the optical device.

By means of the optical structure, in the case of theradiation-receiving semiconductor chip, the transmitted radiation can becollected in regions of the radiation passage area which are laterallyseparated from one another, wherein the irradiance decreases to arelatively great extent between the regions. The contact structure isadvantageously arranged in these intermediate regions having lowerirradiance. The intermediate regions having low irradiance correspond,in particular, to the interspaces between the optical elements of theoptical structure. The contact structure is situated outside the mainbeam path and, as a result, shading by the contact structure issubstantially prevented. Radiation losses can be greatly reduced as aresult.

In the case of the radiation-emitting semiconductor chip, the opticalstructure advantageously enables a “masking-out” of the contactstructure such that an area disposed downstream of the optical devicefrom the point of view of the semiconductor chip is homogeneouslyluminous and not interrupted by the contact structure. The contactstructure produces luminous regions separated from one another andcombined by the optical device or the optical structure to form auniformly luminous area.

The contact structure can be applied to the radiation passage area ofthe semiconductor chip in the form of a structured coating containing anelectrically conductive material, in particular, a metal.

The optical structure can be formed from a radiation-transmissivematerial. One suitable material is glass, for example. This has arelatively good ageing resistance with respect to short-wave radiation,in particular, ultraviolet radiation.

The optical structure advantageously has a periodic structure, that isto say that the optical elements of the optical structure are arrangedregularly.

The optical elements may form a lens array or an optical grating. By wayof example, the lens array can comprise a plurality of regularlyarranged lenses having a convexly curved surface on the side facing thesemiconductor chip. In particular, a radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving zone of the semiconductor chip can be situated in aplane or near a plane spanned by the focal points of the lenses.Consequently, the radiation impinging on the semiconductor chip isfocused in the radiation-receiving zone by the optical structure, whilethe radiation emitted by the semiconductor chip is collimated by theoptical structure.

In accordance with the optical structure, the contact structure can alsohave a periodic structure. In particular, the periodicity of the contactstructure corresponds to the periodicity of the optical structure, thatis to say that the contact elements are arranged with the sameregularity as the optical elements.

In accordance with one advantageous configuration, the contact structureis formed from contact elements arranged in a reticulated fashion. Thecontact elements can be contact webs, in particular. Preferably, theoptical structure in this case has the optical elements, for example,lenses, at the location of the interspaces of the contact structure.

Preferably, the optical device comprises a concentrator. On a sidefacing the semiconductor chip, the concentrator has a first aperture,which is, in particular, smaller than a second aperture of theconcentrator, the second aperture being arranged on a side facing awayfrom the semiconductor chip. With the concentrator, the chip size can bekept relatively small with sufficient irradiance, which reduces thematerial costs. The second aperture can advantageously be approximately10 to 1000 times larger than the first aperture or the radiation passagearea of the semiconductor chip that preferably corresponds to the firstaperture. The length of the concentrator is defined by the second orfirst aperture and the aperture angle of the concentrator.

One advantageous configuration of the optical device provides aparabolic concentrator. The parabolic concentrator is identical in crosssection to a piecewise parabola and has the property of focusingradiation incident within a specific angle with respect to the axis ofsymmetry in a delimited area or emitting radiation emerging from thearea into a delimited angular range. Preferably, the optical structureis arranged in the region of the first aperture near the focal point.

Preferably, the concentrator is a solid body comprising the opticalstructure at a surface facing the semiconductor chip. The combination ofconcentrator and optical structure can be embodied in one piece, bothelements preferably containing the same material, for example, glass.The radiation is guided in the concentrator primarily by totalreflections at the outer wall.

However, it is also possible to provide the concentrator as a hollowbody having a reflective inner area, the optical structure beingdisposed downstream of the hollow body on a side facing thesemiconductor chip. In this case, the two elements are preferably twoseparate elements that are not produced from the same material. By wayof example, the hollow body can be produced from a plastics material andhave a reflective coating, which contains a metal, in particular, on theinner area. The optical structure can be formed from glass.

The semiconductor chip may comprise a radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving zone which is functional in the regions not coveredby the contact structure. Preferably, the radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving zone is also functional in the regions covered bythe contact structure, that is to say that the size of the functionalregions preferably corresponds in total to the total area of theradiation-emitting or radiation-receiving zone.

The interspace by which the optical structure and the semiconductor chipare vertically spaced apart from one another advantageously has adifferent refractive index than the optical structure. By way ofexample, air (refractive index n=1) or silicone (refractive index forexample n=1.4) can be situated in the interspace. The optical structurecan be formed with glass (refractive index for example n=1.5).

Preferably, the radiation-emitting semiconducting chip is alight-emitting diode. In accordance with a further configuration, theradiation-receiving semiconductor chip is a radiation detector or asolar cell. The semiconductor chip comprises a radiation-emitting orradiation-receiving zone with a pn junction that generates or receivesradiation. In the simplest case, the pn junction can be formed by ap-conducting and an n-conducting semiconductor layer directly adjoiningone another. Preferably, the actual radiation-generating orradiation-receiving layer is formed between the p-conducting and then-conducting layer. In particular, in the case of a radiation-emittingsemiconductor chip, the actual radiation-generating layer can beembodied in the form of a doped or undoped quantum layer. The quantumlayer can be shaped as a single quantum well (SQW) structure or multiplequantum well (MQW) structure or else as a quantum wire or quantum dotstructure.

The semiconductor chip embodied as a radiation detector can have, inparticular, more than one radiation-receiving zone. Theradiation-receiving zones can be arranged one above another and absorbradiation having different wavelengths.

Materials suitable for the semiconductor chip are, inter alia, III-Vsemiconductors, in particular arsenide, phosphide or nitride compoundsemiconductors having the material composition Al_(n)Ga_(m)In_(1-n-m)As,Al_(n)Ga_(m)In_(1-n-m)P or Al_(n)Ga_(m)In_(1-n-m)N, where 0≦n≦1, 0≦m≦1and n+m≦1. In this case, the material need not necessarily have amathematically exact composition according to the above formula. Rather,it can comprise one or a plurality of dopants and also additionalconstituents which substantially do not change the physical propertiesof the material. For the sake of simplicity, however, the above formulaonly includes the essential constituents of the crystal lattice (Al, Ga,In, P), even if these can be replaced in part by small amounts offurther substances.

Furthermore, the semiconductor chip can contain an elementalsemiconductor such as silicon or a II-VI compound semiconductor, whichis particularly suitable in the case of the solar cell. Moreover, in thecase of the radiation detector, germanium can be used for a firstradiation-receiving zone, while a second receiving zone can be formedfrom a III-V semiconductor.

It should be pointed out that, in this case, “vertical” is taken to meana direction in which the optical structure is disposed downstream of thesemiconductor chip. “Lateral” should be understood to mean a directionperpendicular to the vertical direction.

Turning now to the drawings, the optoelectronic apparatus describedabove is explained in greater detail below with reference to FIGS. 1 to7. Identical or identically acting elements are provided with the samereference symbols in the figures.

FIG. 1 illustrates an optoelectronic apparatus 1 comprising aradiation-emitting or radiation-receiving semiconductor chip 2 and anoptical device 3.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the optical device 3 has a first aperture A₁on a side facing the semiconductor chip 2, the first aperture beingsmaller than a second aperture A₂, which is arranged on the side facingaway from the semiconductor chip 2. The chip size is preferably adaptedto the size of the first aperture A₁ and has, in particular, the samelateral dimensions as the first aperture A₁.

The semiconductor chip 2 can have a rectangular, in particular square,plan, wherein the plan area can assume values of between 0.0001 cm² (100μm×100 μm) and 10 cm². The lower limit is determined by theproducibility and/or effectiveness of the contact structure. The upperlimit is determined by the realizability of the optical device.

One suitable size for the second aperture A₂ is 100 cm², for example. Inthis case, the semiconductor chip 2 advantageously has a plan area of 1cm².

The angle α denotes the aperture angle of the radiation cone whichemerges from the optical device 3 through the second aperture A₂ orenters into the optical device 3 through the second aperture A₂. If theradiation source is assumed to be a distant radiation source such as thesun, then the angle α is relatively small and is approximately1°(±0.5°). In the optical device 3, the angle α of the radiation conedecreases to the angle β and is, for example, approximately0.7°(±0.35°). On account of the maintenance of the etendue in theoptical device 3, the angle δ occurring at the first aperture 1 isgreater than the angle β occurring at the second aperture A₂ since thefirst aperture 1 is smaller than the second aperture A₂. In this case,the angle δ is 7°(±3.5°). The solid angle factor is 100.

If the semiconductor chip 2 is a radiation receiver, then sunlight withan irradiance of 1000 W/m² can pass through the second aperture A₂,which, as already mentioned, can have an area of 100 cm² such that aradiation power of 10 W is obtained on a radiation passage area of thesemiconductor chip 2 having a size of 1 cm².

If the semiconductor chip 2 is a radiation source, radiation can beemitted with comparatively low divergence by the optical device 3. As aresult of this, the optoelectronic apparatus 1 is particularly suitablefor use in projectors.

FIG. 2 shows one possible configuration of the optical device 3. Thelatter can comprise a parabolic concentrator 5, which guides theincident radiation through the concentrator body with as few losses aspossible.

The concentrator 5 can be a solid body, for example, at the outer wallof which the radiation is subjected to total reflection and is thus keptin the concentrator 5. Alternatively, the concentrator 5 can be a hollowbody having a reflectively coated inner area.

Furthermore, the optical device 3 comprises an optical structure 4 on aside facing the semiconductor chip 2. The optical structure 4 can be aseparate element, which is preferably connected mechanically to theconcentrator 5. Alternatively, the optical structure 4 can be embodiedin one piece with the concentrator 5, that is to say that opticalstructure 4 and concentrator 5 are produced in one work step preferablyfrom the same material. The latter possibility is preferably employed ifthe concentrator 5 is a solid body.

The optical structure 4 advantageously has a periodic structure. Asillustrated, the optical structure 4 comprises a plurality of regularlyarranged optical elements 4 a. In particular, the optical elements 4 aare lenses having a convex surface.

Preferably, the plan of the optical structure 4 corresponds to the planof the semiconductor chip 2. Given a plan area of 1 cm², the opticalstructure 4 can comprise, for example, one optical element 4 a per mm²,that is to say that the diameter of an individual optical element 4 a isapproximately 1 mm.

On account of the radiation transmissivity of glass, this material canadvantageously be used for the optical structure 4.

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged excerpt from an optoelectronic apparatus asillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The optical structure 4 comprises a plurality of optical elements 4 a,which are embodied as lenses, in particular. This has already beenexplained in greater detail in connection with FIG. 2.

As can be seen from FIG. 3, the light rays—represented by lines—of abeam of rays generated by the respective optical elements 4 a convergeor diverge in the case of a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip.Regions B of lower intensity are present between the beams of raysimpinging on the semiconductor chip 2 or the beams of rays emitted bythe latter. In the regions B, the semiconductor chip 2 comprises contactelements (not illustrated) which together form a contact structure. Thecontact structure is preferably arranged on a radiation passage area 2 aof the semiconductor chip 2.

The semiconductor chip 2 or the radiation-receiving orradiation-emitting zone does not have to be arranged directly in theplane which is spanned by the focal points of the optical elements 4 a.The semiconductor chip 2 can be arranged near the plane, at a somewhatsmaller vertical distance D from the optical structure 4. The distance Dbetween the optical structure 4 and the semiconductor chip 2 is chosen,in particular, to be large enough that the contact structure can be madesufficiently large without the risk of shading by the contact structure.Furthermore, the distance is chosen to be small enough that the regionsB are sufficiently large to optimally utilize the chip area.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simulated intensity distribution such as can occuron the radiation passage area 2 a of a radiation-receiving semiconductorchip 2 in accordance with FIGS. 1 to 3.

The radiation passage area 2 a has a size of 1 cm×1 cm. The radiation iscollected in regions L which are separated from one another and thenumber of which corresponds to the number of optical elements 4 a (FIG.3). Therefore, 10×10 regions L occur on the radiation passage area 2 a.The regions L illuminated by the beams of rays are uniformly distributedon the radiation passage area 2 a and separated from one another by theregions B of lower intensity.

FIG. 5 reveals the extent of the illuminated regions L. The ordinateindicates the proportion E of the included energy within a region Lhaving the radius R proceeding from the centroid thereof. The abscissaindicates the radius R. The different curves represent the values fordifferent rays that impinge on the region L at different angles, inparticular ±3.5°. As can be seen from FIG. 5, within a region L havingthe radius R=250 μm more than 95% (E=1) of the energy is confined if theradiation impinges within an angular range of ±3.5°. The averagediameter of the regions L can therefore be assumed to be approximately500 μm.

The distance between the centroids of the regions L is approximately 1mm in this case. Consequently, the width of the regions B between theregions L can be up to 500 μm. Consequently, there is sufficient spacefor the contact elements in the regions B.

FIG. 6 shows the radiation passage area 2 a illustrated in FIG. 4, theradiation passage area now being provided with contact elements 6 a,which form the contact structure 6, in the regions B of low intensity.The contact structure 6 has a periodic structure, wherein theperiodicity of the contact elements 6 a corresponds to the periodicityof the illuminated regions L. The illuminated regions L can be assignedone-to-one to the optical elements 4 a of the optical structure 4 whichare illustrated in FIG. 3. Consequently, the periodicity of the contactstructure 6 also corresponds to the periodicity of the optical structure4.

The contact structure 6 is formed from contact elements 6 a in the formof contact webs that are arranged in a reticulated fashion. The contactwebs preferably contain a metal or a metal compound. The width of thecontact webs is adapted to the width of the regions B. If the latterhave a width of approximately 500 μm, then the contact webs can have awidth of approximately 300 μm. However, smaller structures down to 10 μmare also conceivable, depending on the application.

FIG. 7 shows an enlarged excerpt from an optoelectronic apparatus asillustrated in FIG. 2, for example. The optoelectronic apparatuscomprises the semiconductor chip 2, which can be a light-emitting diode,a radiation detector or a solar cell, and the optical structure 4 havingthe optical elements 4 a.

The contact structure 6 having the contact elements 6 a in the form ofcontact webs is arranged on the radiation passage area 2 a of thesemiconductor chip 2. The contact structure 6 is vertically spaced apartfrom the optical structure 4. In particular, an interspace 8 is situatedbetween the optical structure 4 and the semiconductor chip 2. Theinterspace 8 advantageously has a different refractive index than theoptical structure 4, the refractive index being smaller, in particular.By way of example, the interspace 8 can be filled with air or silicone.

On the rear side, the semiconductor chip 2 comprises a rear-side contact7, which can cover the semiconductor chip 2 over the whole area.

Upon a projection of the contact structure 6 into the plane of theoptical structure 4, the contact elements 6 a are arranged ininterspaces between the optical elements 4 a. In particular, the opticalelements 4 a are enclosed in a frame-like manner by the contact elements6 a upon a projection.

The arrangement of the optical structure 4 relative to the contactstructure 6 has the effect, in the case of a radiation-receivingsemiconductor chip 2, that no shading by the contact structure 6 occursas a result of the contact structure 6.

In the case of a radiation-emitting semiconductor chip 2, with thearrangement described, more radiation can be coupled into theconcentrator (not illustrated) or a projector optical unit (notillustrated) disposed downstream or the projector optical unit can bedesigned for a smaller etendue. This is because only the radiationbetween the contact elements 6 a is processed by the optical structure4. The luminous area therefore does not correspond to the size of theradiation passage area 2 a, but rather is reduced by the size of thecontact elements. The etendue (product of luminous area and solidangle), is therefore smaller. Therefore, an etendue-limited system withincreased luminance can be obtained by an optoelectronic apparatus ofthis type. Such an apparatus is suitable for projectors, in particular.

This disclosure is not restricted by the description on the basis of theexamples. Rather, the disclosure encompasses any novel feature and alsoany combination of features, which in particular includes anycombination of features in the appended claims, even if this feature orthis combination itself is not explicitly specified in the claims orexamples.

1. An optoelectronic apparatus comprising: an optical device with anoptical structure comprising a plurality of optical elements, and aradiation-emitting or radiation-receiving semiconductor chip with acontact structure which comprises a plurality of contact elements thatmake electrical contact with the semiconductor chip and are spaced apartvertically from the optical structure, wherein the contact elements arearranged in interspaces between the optical elements upon a projectionof the contact structure into the plane of the optical structure.
 2. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the contactstructure is applied on a radiation passage area of the semiconductorchip, the radiation passage area facing the optical device.
 3. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opticalstructure is arranged on a radiation passage area of the optical device,the radiation passage area facing the contact structure.
 4. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the opticalstructure is a periodic structure and the optical elements form a lensarray or an optical grating.
 5. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimedin claim 1, wherein the optical structure contains glass.
 6. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the contactstructure is a periodic structure having a periodicity which correspondsto periodicity of the optical structure.
 7. The optoelectronic apparatusas claimed in claim 6, wherein the contact structure comprises contactelements arranged in a reticulated fashion.
 8. The optoelectronicapparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the optical device comprises aconcentrator which has a smaller aperture on a side facing thesemiconductor chip than on a side facing away from the semiconductorchip.
 9. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein theconcentrator is a solid body comprising the optical structure at asurface facing the semiconductor chip.
 10. The optoelectronic apparatusas claimed in claim 8, wherein the concentrator is a hollow body havinga reflective inner area, the optical structure being disposed downstreamof the hollow body on a side facing the semiconductor chip.
 11. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein thesemiconductor chip comprises a radiation-emitting or radiation-receivingzone which is functional in regions covered by the contact structure.12. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein aninterspace between the optical structure and the semiconductor chip hasa different refractive index than the optical structure.
 13. Theoptoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim 12, wherein air or siliconeis situated in the interspace.
 14. The optoelectronic apparatus asclaimed in claim 1, wherein the radiation-emitting semiconductor chip isa light-emitting diode.
 15. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimed inclaim 1, wherein the radiation-receiving semiconductor chip is aradiation detector or a solar cell.
 16. The optoelectronic apparatus asclaimed in claim 2, wherein the optical structure is arranged on aradiation passage area of the optical device, the radiation passage areafacing the contact structure.
 17. The optoelectronic apparatus asclaimed in claim 5, wherein the contact structure is a periodicstructure having a periodicity which corresponds to periodicity of theoptical structure.
 18. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim2, wherein the optical structure is a periodic structure and the opticalelements form a lens array or an optical grating.
 19. The optoelectronicapparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the optical structure is aperiodic structure and the optical elements form a lens array or anoptical grating.
 20. The optoelectronic apparatus as claimed in claim16, wherein the optical structure is a periodic structure and theoptical elements form a lens array or an optical grating.